{"id":12331,"date":"2022-01-19T08:05:21","date_gmt":"2022-01-19T13:05:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=12331"},"modified":"2022-01-19T08:05:24","modified_gmt":"2022-01-19T13:05:24","slug":"mlk-and-omitting-none-of-the-above","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/intramuralist.com\/?p=12331","title":{"rendered":"MLK… and omitting none of the above"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

We walked. Talked. Spent time together. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We walked and talked together.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Martin Luther King Jr. Day was this past Monday. It\u2019s a day that celebrates the Christian faith, call for justice and equality, and nonviolent approach of Dr. Martin Luther King. I\u2019m no expert. And I don\u2019t know that I\u2019m really all that qualified to speak on this subject. But I\u2019d like to believe that if a person doesn\u2019t support all three of the above, then they\u2019re not speaking for Dr. King.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I, too, am not capable of speaking for<\/em> Dr. King. I\u2019m simply an admiring student from afar.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love many things Dr. King said\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDarkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cForgiveness is not an occasional act. It is a permanent attitude.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hope. Light. Forgiveness\u2026 I think about when I justify something lesser\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thinking of his 1965 speech in \u201cOur God is Marching On!\u201d\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026It is normalcy all over our country which leaves the Negro perishing on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of vast ocean of material prosperity. It is normalcy all over Alabama that prevents the Negro from becoming a registered voter. No, we will not allow Alabama to return to normalcy. The only normalcy that we will settle for is the normalcy that recognizes the dignity and worth of all of God\u2019s children\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of God\u2019s children. King never saw justice and equality outside the framework of absolutely each of us being created in the image of God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And then from one of my favorites, \u201cLetter from a Birmingham Jail,\u201d a letter written to the nation\u2019s religious leaders in 1963. Remember that at the time, black persons were not allowed to vote. Heck, they weren\u2019t even allowed to sit on the same place on a bus. How does such equate to \u201call men are created equal\u201d? Yes, we have made some grievous errors; we have corrected some of those errors. But King got our attention\u2026 especially when he addressed the question of whether or not he was an extremist in his call to get us to love and respect all people\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c\u2026 Was not Jesus an extremist in love? \u2014 \u2018Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you.\u2019 Was not Amos an extremist for justice? \u2014 \u2018Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.\u2019 Was not Paul an extremist for the gospel of Jesus Christ? \u2014 \u2018I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.\u2019 Was not Martin Luther an extremist? \u2014 \u2018Here I stand; I can do no other so help me God.\u2019 Was not John Bunyan an extremist? \u2014 \u2018I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a mockery of my conscience.\u2019 Was not Abraham Lincoln an extremist? \u2014 \u2018This nation cannot survive half slave and half free.\u2019 Was not Thomas Jefferson an extremist? \u2014 \u2018We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.\u2019 So the question is not whether we will be extremist, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate, or will we be extremists for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice, or will we be extremists for the cause of justice?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On Monday I took part with some friends along with our mayor, civic leaders and multiple others, just cleaning up a more impoverished area of our city. We walked and talked. Spent time together. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal was to promote Dr. King\u2019s legacy of service\u2026 his Christian faith, call for justice and equality, and nonviolent approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

May we never omit one of the above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We walked. Talked. Spent time together.  We walked and talked together. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was this past Monday. It\u2019s a day that celebrates the Christian faith, call for justice and equality, and nonviolent approach of Dr. Martin Luther King. I\u2019m no expert. And I don\u2019t know that I\u2019m really all that qualified to … <\/p>\n

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